Vandread: The Next Enemy
by The 483
Summary: sequal to next encounter. 12 years after A secret millitary project began, a new war brews that none are safe from.
1. This week in the Galaxy

Vandread, The Next Enemy 

Yeah, I know, the last one was short, but it was more an extended prologue to this one than anything.

Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread.

**#1: This week in the empire**

A propaganda newsreel fires up inside a large amphitheater lined with dozens of hard wooden chairs. The noise of the crowed died as the words "THIS WEEK IN THE EMPIRE!" scrolled across the screen. Fire swallowed the words and the image panned back. Buildings were burning in a city, fire everywhere, devouring the city eagerly. A narrator's voice started, informing the crowd of what they were looking at.

"Destruction strikes the outer rim world of Gorconack as the "Scourge" continues it's genocidal campaign against the human race." A picture of a quadruped creature appeared and rotated in place. It was covered in a brownish hair, an electric blue horn atop its flat face. Razor sharp fangs glistened, accompanied by retractable claws on all feet. "This is the most common scourge encountered on the battle field, able to jump several stories, and claw through steel if given enough time. It's horn is capable of launching strange energy pulses that are devastating to most know materials. There is believed to be other creatures that make up the scourge, but none such creatures have actually been seen." The image changed to a large structure, and then panned out show a city engulfed in flames, occasional explosions chaining throughout the city. "Twelve years ago, on this planet, named Alpha 5, the scourge was discovered. This city was home to a resistant faction, unwilling to accept the benefits of the empire, and was found in this state when a military effort was being launched to quell their resistance. Military personal were able extract a few remaining personnel not slaughtered, and they provided a good deal of what we now know of these creatures. Shortly after the extraction, large warships entered the Alpha system, and discharged large numbers of ground forces, and destroying any human civilization from the planet, and immediately began adding the planet to their unknown forces." The image shifted to a group of humans in the empire military uniforms, holding a variety of different weapons. They began combating a larger group of "Scourge" as the narrator continued. "Thanks to empire military personal and technology, we have managed to avoid high casualty situations in our dealings with this new threat." The army people cut down the enemy, with only one casualty, and 2 others injured. The screen faded as the single feather of the military flashed on the screen."


	2. New and Improved

Vandread, The Next Enemy 

Sorry my writing has been kinda staggered an bad lately, just a little depressed and un inspired.

Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread.

**#2: New and Improved**

A girl of the age of seventeen ran down a dark metal hallway. She glanced at her watch, and cursed as she saw the time. She picked up the pace and slid to a stop outside a large metal door, and with exaggerated slowness, eased the door open. A film was playing, the amphitheater dark. She crept in, and very cautiously took he seat between two other students of her age. A blonde girl, nicely endowed for her age on one side, and a modestly attractive girl with shorter light blue hair. She had just finished settling silently in the seat, when the light flicked on, and a stern voice broke the silence.

"Ms. Orangello, would you care to explain why you find it so difficult to get to my class on time?" The instructor at the bottom of the amphitheater gazed up at her, his shining gauntlets reflecting the light. She sighed heavily, she had snuck in so well, that her only her friends had noticed he enter. Her and her three friends, the two girls and one other guy, a red head, had special abilities that they had only seen in their parents.

"Mrs. Thomas needed a word with me." She said, slightly submissive, but still not giving out all the way.

"Well, your lucky that she has sent word about that. Anyway, today we will be facing of with holographic Scourge underlings. If you would all please move the holographic room now, we can begin." He pointed to a door, which opened, and the students filled through, separating into groups based on their friends. "So, how many of you would like to get officer positions when they graduate?" He asked. A large number of people raised their hands. "Ok, Now how many people know what it takes to become an officer?" Half the number lowered their arms. "Ok, good, now, how many are actually willing to go through all of that?" all but handful dropped their hands. "That is a bit more than I expected, but it is an acceptable number. Anyway, all of you that still have your hands up separate into a single group." The people moved, the green haired girl joining the group, as did all of her friends. "Ms. Orangello, please step over here, you will be the demonstration subject for today." She cursed under here breath, and walked up, eyeing a large box shaped thing under a black cloth. "All groups back against the walls, but I want Ms. Elden to please move to the center of the room." The blonde moved into the center of the room, as all the other people moved to form a parameter. The instructor pulled out a silver handgun, and fired seven shots into the floor, causing most of the room to flinch; though Ms. Orangello didn't. He flipped the pistol up, and handed it, grip first, to Ms. Orangello. "Now, for today's exercise, we will see how Sophia here handles the most horrible battle scenario anyone will ever have to face on the battlefield." He whipped the cloth of, and a Scourge regular snarled at the sudden light. "I have been able to acquire one of the "regulars" as they are being deemed, as a merit for my many years of service. This is a live creature, so utmost care must be taken." He pulled out an infantry assult weapon, and tossed it to the blonde. "You are to shoot as soon as I open the cage." He instructed, the girl nodding and leveling the rifle at the monstrosity's head. metal squealed in a flash of electric blue light, the regular exploding out of the top of the cage suddenly, and lunging straight at the startled girl. She didn't even manage get a shot of and the beast landed on her, brutal slashing claws ripping flesh from the girl's body as she started to scream. "Shoot her!" The instructor yelled at Sophia.

"WHAT?" She yelled back, a horrified look adorning her face.

"Shoot her! Better to be shot by a friend, than slaughtered by the enemy!" Many things sped across Sophia's mind. Why did such an ordinary day lead to her having to kill her best friend? She knew she had to, for it was nice to have a quick, painless death at the hand of a friend, then ripped to shreds by a hideous monster. They had all fought holographic regulars before. A transparent shell surrounded their heads, possibly because the Scourge regulars were a mostly aquatic race. It would take no less tan three shots from this grade of handgun to crack the shell, and a forth to put it down. a vital organ shot was almost impossible to anyone but a crack sniper, so that option was also out. Even if she did manage to kill the beast, her friend was lost, due to almost half her lower body being ripped off. Even the advance medical technology of the world today would be useless. So, her mind set, she raise thee pistol, a single retort drowning out the weak screams, which ceased there after. The Regular stopped it's wild thrashing, and turned to face her, it's prey no longer moving, staring with horrible black eye's, mouth dripping with blood. A hail of powerful rifle rounds tore through the creature's head, a dull lump of spinal cord remaining, the body failing, blood spreading.

"Return to the main class, Jamie, start up the film, and watch it until the end of the period. Sophia please remain, I'd like to have a word with you." The class filled off, with the exception of Sophia, who stared blankly at a wall, mind reeling. The door closed with a resounding clank, followed by silence.

"Why did you let her die, Professor Spencer?" he sighed, knowing the question was coming, and spoke in a softer tone than he had ever before.

"You had shown that you wanted become an officer, and that is what an office must do, sacrifice those under their command if need be." He tapped a series of keys recessed into a wall. Thee gory image before Sophia disappeared in a matter of seconds. Sophia turned, her eyes filled with hate. She couldn't control herself, her feelings of despair transforming into an unquenchable rage. She ran and swung a vicious blow, which the professor easily dodged, her hand connecting with the wall, a large explosion of green light emanating from the point where it dented the thick metal. "Such outbursts are not a favorable characteristic in an officer candidate." He said, admiring the damage caused. "Did you ever know your father?" he asked, catching her off guard.

"Not really," she said, her curiosity at the abrupt change in conversation, "But my mother said he was a no good bastard because he ran of to war at the first available opportunity."

"Oh does she!" He exclaimed mockingly. "I'll have to talk to her about that."

"What do you mean?"

"I am you father." He said bluntly.

"No your not, you can't be, what I remember about my dad was that he loved mom and me more than anything." She said, not wanting to believe him, but he did fit the description that she remember, now that she though about it.

"Do you remember this?" He held his metal encased palm out, a purple orb forming in his palm. She gaped, remembering it on the first occasion she had met him, twelve years ago.

"Why didn't you ever tell me?"

Because, you never needed to now, but I'll talk to you about that later, you need to see the rest of that video, and you are to continue to treat me as your instructer while in the classroom." He walked out, and she followed, mind still absorbing the shock.

"The current effort to repel the advance of Scourge from proceeding deeper into human controlled space is proceeding well, spearheaded by the Ancient pirate ship, the "Nirvana", piloted by the wise captain Vivan." A ship silhouette appeared on the screen, statistics scrolling around different places. "At the for-front of the battle is the one weapon that we have that they don't, the Paexi. A crystalline energy being fueling the systems aboard the ship…" the screen dissolved into static, an explosion sounding somewhere in the distance. Red sirens strobe the new darkness, and intercoms blared warnings.

"The Scourge has just struck this platform, please make you way to the nearest escape pods and descend onto the planet."

THE END.


	3. Mark of my beloved

Vandread, The Next Enemy 

Sorry my writing has been kinda staggered and bad lately, just a little depressed and uninspired.

Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread.

**#3: Mark of my Beloved**

Jack stood at the door to his classroom, which was dark due to the attack in progress. He ushered in anyone who was running down the hall, and after he was reasonably sure that everyone who was going to come was inside, locked the door. He turned and surveyed the new occupants, about 50 students and 5 fellow teachers. He shook his head. _Not much of an army, but it will do. _He thought to himself.

"Alright everybody, move into the holographic training room, as it is much more secure than the standard classroom." He said, and most of them moved very quickly to the holographic room. After the last student walked through, (The teachers being the first ones to dash through) Jack followed, and pressed the control next to the door, emergency barricades slamming down, reinforcing the otherwise weakened point. One of adjoining doors to another classroom slid open, a very large and muscular man walking through, followed by his class, and a few other teachers.

"So, looks like you pulled in some stragglers too, eh?" He asked across the room at Jack.

"Yep, and guess where the escape pods are located." He called back.

"The other side of the station, furthest away from where we are now." Another man said as he walked through another adjoining class door.

"Looks like we're going to get to kill something after all!" The big guy said, not noticing the frightened looks most of students were now sporting, or the whisperings of, "I didn't think we'd have to fight until we graduated the military academy."

"Ok, then, I guess we should get going as soon as possible, to bet the rush." Jack said, as he settled behind a computer console.

Sophia was in a corner with her friends, all relatively calm compared to the rest of the students in the room. The blond that was though dead was their, a bit fidgety, butt otherwise nonplused. The blue haired girl was also in the circle, shaking her head as the big man continued to yell across the room. A boy with bright red hair finished out the group, staring around the room.

"God, the first sigh of battle, and dad is practically jumping up and down." The blue haired girl said, still shaking her head.

"I know, how embarrassing, at least my dad hasn't done anything stupid yet." The blond said, pushing her hair back and doing her best to straighten it into even length rows, the obsessive-compulsive qualities of her parents driving her to do so.

"And at least my dad isn't here, one wrong word, and he'd fly of the handle and that would just make things worse." The red haired boy said, eyeing a group of girls huddling with each other. All at once, the three of them realized what they had said.

"Sorry Sophie, we forgot…" The blonde started to say, remembering that Sophie didn't know her father.

"It's ok Tiffany." She said with a sigh. "I found out who my father really is, and it just so happens, as luck would have it, is Professor Spencer." The two other girls gave a small gasp, and the boy just tore his eyes away from the group of girls he was watching, and brought his gaze to Sophie.

"That sucks." He said bluntly, but any retort to be made was cut off.

"O.k., How many do we have here?" Jack asked, typing on to a computer, the large man on one side, and the other man on the other.

"Two hundred and fifty four kids, and 10 adults including us." The smaller man said.

"Ok, thanks Vinn. John, go and start passing out the party favors, I'm unlocking the cabinets and ammo lockers now." A large click echoed across the room, and the large man quickly waded through the children. Jack started talking to the room as a whole.

"Ok, the schematics show that the entire station is in lockdown, and that the Scourge decided to only land on one part of the station. If we hurry, I can unlock almost all the doors to the escape pods." John started handing out various firearms to the teachers, and then, after he ran out of teachers, he grabbed himself a combat shotgun, and a CLIPPER pistol as a side arm. It was a trusty little weapon, extremely resilient with a 12 round clip. Jack pulled out his own bulky assault weapon, slammed a clip of armor piercing rounds into the proper slot, and locked a round into chamber.

"Well, let's get moving, unless you'd like to wait for the Scourge to find us?" Jack said, and walked to the door. "John, Vinn, your up here with me, the other seven of you on the rear, report any contact. All kids stay between us unless otherwise order to do so, now, move it out!" He yelled, opened the door, and then dashed into the dark hallway followed by the rest.

Barnette was assigned to rear guard, as her, several other teachers and a flock of students made their way to the escape pods, conveniently located on the opposite side of the station. Her weapon of choice, her high powered SCAVENGER sniper rifle with telescoping scope and 12" solid brass armor piercing rounds that could penetrate through an inch and a half of solid steel. She was the best sniper in the army, and one of the very few people capable of scoring a single shot kill on a stationary Regular without going for the head shot, and as far as she new, the only one to have done it on a moving target. She was asked to teach at the academy shortly after its completion 4 years ago, and since her little girl was joining the academy, so she joined as well. Almost all of the crew of the "Nirvana" had been asked to pass on their considerable and nearly unparalleled knowledge of combat on the ground and in space. Most had joined, but the captain, who was still alive and well despite her age, and several members of the command crew remained and were spearheading the space assault force. Bart had remained as the navigator, being the most experienced, Celtic and their child accompanying him. Despite the "Nirvana's" excellent crew and weapons, the space side of the battle was not going near as well as could be hoped. Even though the Scourge seemed primitive and ignorant, they were surpassingly advanced and powerful. The group was rounding the corner, Barnette lost in thought about how each of the different colored Paexi seemed to give their controller a certain special ability that was superior to the basic powers they all got from becoming a controller. A small movement across the hall behind them caught her attention. The Scourge was behind them somewhere, but she didn't think that they would catch up this soon. The hall was dark, and she could barely make the figure out, roughly man shaped but hunched as if over long arms were touching the ground making it slightly quadruped. She leveled her rifle, and squeezed off a single shot, aiming for the center of mass, which would slow it down enough so that she could finish it off. The muzzle flashed and a single round whizzed at the target. The creature jumped sideways, landing on the side of the wall, halfway across from where it had stood, grabbing onto the wall. It launched itself immediately after, right at Barnette. She didn't even have time to turn as the creature flew at her. She caught a glimpse of claws, sharper than a precision milled razors edge, claws capable of ripping holes in solids steel, and knew it was all over. The beast collided with her and they fell to the ground as people started to scream.

Jack led the way down the dark halls. Emergency lights were small and gave just enough light to see that where the walls were. They had been moving for 5 minuets so far, and according to the data pad map of the station, they only had a short while to go. Jack started to round a corner, and stopped dead. Something was just rounding the corner ahead of him, and spotting him, stopped too. The thing across the hall turned, a small glint appeared and slid for about 2 feet, and Jack realized who it was. A muzzle flash strobed the darkness and he dove onto the wall, gripping his claws into the wall, and crouching on all fours sideways on the wall. Just as quickly he leapt off, diving at the person arms extended, andd grabbing her around the waist and to the floor. Someone screamed.

"Hi Barne—" he started to say as he held the girl down by her shoulders, but was cut of as the but of her rifle connected with the side of his head with enough force to knock him off. She then got up, brushed herself off, and kicked him while he was down, sending him sprawling across the hall.

"Hello, Jack." She answered back, not the least bit concerned about how much she had hurt him. All of the people using the paexis energy had become rather fluent in how to use it. They could you're the augmenting features without even a thought, the power and magnitude of the attacks were frighteningly dangerous. Barnette had hit him in the head with a blow that could have dented a steal plate. He stood shakily, and replied with a "nice to see you, too." and ushered for his party to join hers. He waited for the rear guard to pass, when something caught his eye. An electric blue line was glowing at the end of the hall. An inexperienced soldier would have simply thought that a wire had come loose during the one of the explosions, but Jack new better. The way the glowing item was bobbing and cuting the air into strange patterns told him otherwise. He leveled his rifle, shouted "Contact," and let loose a barrage of bullets. The first monster was shattered by the burst of weapons fire, falling quickly. Two more rounded the corner and charged. A second one fell to the bullets racing to meet them, but the second one dove at him. Jack dropped his assault weapon, and met the creatures hands with is unyielding gauntlets. He dropped backward using the Regulars momentum to throw it into the wall behind them. The Regular was stunned, hitting the wall with enough force to dent it, and sluped to the floor. Jack rushed over, pulling a thick disk from his cloak and attaching it to the Regulars chest. Then, grabbing it by one arm and leg, he spun and tossed the creature down the hallway it had just left, landing half way across and sliding to the feet of three more of it's kind. The monstrosities snarled and barred razor sharp fangs as jack stepped out of their line of sight. Jack pressed his back to the wall, electric blue energy blasts ripping through the airspace he had just vacated. A second later a explosion rattle the floor and a wall of flame erupted from the passage. Jack edged back around the corner, noting with satisfaction that debris no halting the Scourges progress. He retrieved his weapon, checked to make sure it still worked, and retook his position at the head of the group, ushering them to follow. Their pace increased, now knowing how dangerously close the enemy was. The reached the escape pods in a matter of minutes.

"John, Vinn, Gary and Barnette, You're with me, the rest of you into the pods." Jack ordered, and they all promptly obeyed, especially the one's entering the pods. John and the rest joined Jack, standing around, weapons sweeping the area just incase. Jack waited until the last pod launched, shoved out in a column of fire, and typed a smattering of keys into a small computer terminal. "The escape pods are landing in grid Zero-Two-Zero Four, the remote outpost "_Juliet-Lewis_". Were are going to head to the launch bay, and take one of the drop ships to the main military Installation across the plain, and see what they need done." He said, and walked off in the opposite direction of the way they'd just come, John taking the rear with Vinn, the other two in the middle.

They reached the launch bay and locked the heavy doors behind them. A single drop ship, and all but Jack loaded up immediately. John took the pilot's seat, Gary grabbed co-pilots, and the others strapped themselves into the seats lining the walls. Jack strolled over to a large console, and typed a flurry of commands. After a few seconds, a timer on the massive screen started counting off form one minuted. Jack hopped into the back of the ship and sealed the hatch. The bay depressurized and opened as the ship thundered to life, and pushed of the deck. It roared out of the station once the door opened and descended toward the planet bellow. A few seconds later, on the rear camera, all of the stations maneuvering thrusters fired in unison, slowly pushing it toward the single enemy vessel floating nearby. The ship was to close to move in time, and the station impacted the earthy brown-green hull of the Scourge ship. Several seconds later, the stations self-destruction system triggered a meltdown of the fusion power plant at the station core, taking the Scourge ship to hell with it. The ship radar pinged as it picked up a new contact in the nearby space. 8 blips moved toward the planet, and using the ships cameras, they saw the massive Scourge ships moving in.

"Now the fun part begins." Jack said solemnly.

The End. Might notice a lot of halo connections, but that's cause they are very inspirational things.


	4. Day of Repent

Vandread, The Next Enemy 

Sorry my writing has been kinda staggered and bad lately, just really depressed and uninspired.

Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread.

**#4: The Day of Repent**

The Jeep bounced on its heavy suspension as it roared out of the underground garage, which closed with a low thud. The tires spun over a patch of gravel, caught and accelerated over the plain. John was driving, heading toward the remote outpost "_Juliet-Lewis_" with a smattering of supplies to bolster the outpost's meager defenses. Vinn And Grim were in the back seat, with Jack crammed in between. Barnette eyed the surrounding through her SCAVENGER's scope. The escape pods had all landed right around the outpost, which was carved into the base of a mountain so it couldn't be surrounded. If each pod landed correctly, a small caliber computer controlled auto cannon would sprout from the top of the pod, so that it could clear the area if necessary. The jeep hit a small bump, caught some air, and hit the ground with a thud, then accelerated. An enormous shadow blanketed the ground, and looking up, the members of the jeep saw the brown-green hull of the Scourge ship as it entered the upper atmosphere. The jeep hit a patch of mud fishtailed through it. They covered the remaining space in no time at all, and reached the outpost. A large patch of ground lifted into the air on underground hydraulics, and John drove the vehicle into the looming darkness. The headlights barely seemed to dissipate the concentrated darkness as the road curved and lead them into a dimly lit hanger. Parking the vehicle near one of the rows of identical craft, they all hopped out and walked to a door with _surface_ stenciled on it. Vinn looked around the massive space noting that it looked larger enough to launch a squadron of aircraft. His eyes fell onto a pair of metal doors with _experimental_ written all over it in blue hazard letters.

"Hey, look over there." He said, indicating the doors. Jack started to give the orders.

"Looks like there was a reason this is a remote outpost. Judging from the size of this garage, and the writing on the wall, this is going to be interesting. Grimm, help Vinn with the doors, and find the weapon storage, we're going to need some heavy duty stuff." He consulted his data pad, which most of the men recognized from the original experiment that brought them all together. "The rest of us will go up and get ready to hold for as long as we can. The base roster says that there are around 12 military scientists, and 20 army reg… infantry units stationed here." He stopped himself from using the term regulars; it had a different meaning now. "Remember, we are the Arbiters, sent to pass judgement an all who dare come up against us. We are the elite few chosen for our special abilities to defend the Empire against any who challenge it. " Jack said, his version of a motivational speech. He threw open the door marked surface and started walking up the concrete ramp. The Arbiter program had been expanded during the time of the initial contact with the Scourge 12 years ago. It now contained the entire group of controllers, was one of the decorated units in the Royal Empire Army, and the most effective in ground engagements. Jack was the first, followed within two years by the rest. The Arbiter insignia consisted of three crossed bars inside a circle, a green skull engulfed in purple flames dominating the center. The words "Lest thee be judged" were stenciled around the outside of the patch, which was sewn onto whatever clothes they wanted to wear, as a normal uniform would be restricting to their special capabilities.

The base was crowded, all the people from the escape pods had pilled in and were mulling about in fear, now that the greenish brow hulls appeared in the sky. A few of the students had tried to rally the others, but their efforts were futile. So, instead of doing nothing, they went of themselves, years of military training and heredity working to guide their actions. Their plan was to bolster the encampment's defenses by removing the escape pods chain guns and mounting them atop the walls. There were already four heavy turrets with four bullet spouts mounted on each of four castle-like turrets spaced along the wall. They had managed to get a base solider in each, which were scanning the field in overlapping fields of fire. With the help of two of the base's scientists, a man named Luke, who was tall and soiled, and a shorter lady with vibrant green hair and a kind smile named missy, the kids set up a minefield to slow down whatever was coming. They had just finished mounting the last chain gun, and placing a gunner on it, when a fellow called in a contact.

"Something's launching from one of the Scourge ships!" Hundreds of things that looked like their cylindrical escape pods entered the atmosphere trailing brilliant blue tails. The men on the machine guns were tracking the ones closing on the ground fastest, racking a round it each of the four chambers, preparing for the battle. The four kids walked back down to the main floor, where only the six soldiers were left, making the empty fort seem spacious. They regarded the kids as just some lousy little kids from the intelligence unit at the Acadamy. They just assumed they were in there because they seemed to know allot about what they were doing, like any spook from intelligence.

"You little kids should go into the rear bunker with the rest." One said, speaking gruffly. "And let the grown ups do the rest." The red headed boy took offense at this, and reacted just as his father would have.

"What the hell did you just say? You want me to kick your ass?" He roared, but the soldier's reply never made it out, as the doors from the underground garage opened and three figures walked through. The girls with green and blue hair sighed as they saw who it was. The one in the lead spoke first, his gauntlets reflecting the falling objects in the sky.

"Were you just hassling these kids?" he said, his voice level, yet slightly dangerous.

"N-No sir." They all said, snapping to attention as they saw the man's insignia. The Arbiter's were not in the standard chain of command, but still outranked all but the senior officers in the military. "We were just advising them to get to the shelter with the rest of the people."

"Well, that will not be necessary. You four," He said, turning to the four teens. "Go down to the garage and help Vinn and Grimm, gather all of the weapons and ammo you can, and haul it up here." The kids filled of without question, and disappeared below. "The six of you," he returned his attention to the soldiers, go down to our jeep, and grab the rifles in the back, and post on the wall. They're loaded with special rounds that penetrate the shield around a Reg's head better." They saluted and left. Jack, Barnette and John walked up to the upper catwalk and surveyed the battlefield.

"Sir, what are those things? Weapons fire?" the man at who had just been replaced by John at the nearest turret asked.

"No, they don't have ship to ground weapons. Each one of those is a cylinder, that when hits the ground, opens up and teleports in troops in large numbers. It's their more efficient solution to the drop ship." Jack aswered, looking at the hundreds of blue streaks hurtling toward the planet. "Go and get anyone inside the shelter who can fire a gun, and have them go start carrying up weapons. Then have them post up here."

"Yes sir." He said, and left quickly.

Barnette walked upand stood next to him, close so that only he could hear her.

"Have you ever seen that one of those big one's before?" She asked, her voice sharp but calm, they way it always was when they were going to fight. He looked into her eyes, the kind; uncertainty of usual replaced with a hard-edged clarity.

"No, but if they have a surprise for us, we might just have to have a few surprises for them." He said, and treaded his arm around her waist, pulling her closer. This threw him off; she never let him touch her when they were in a combat situation. It disturbed him even more that she rested her head on his shoulder. "Everything will be just fine." He said, soft and lovingly, trying to comfort her. She said nothing, just staring as the first cylinder hit the ground, two miles away. Jack simply thought to himself, "Leave it to me to be romantic in the face of death." He gave a small smirk to the field.


	5. The edge of a knife

Vandread, The Next Enemy 

Sorry my writing has been kinda staggered and bad lately, just really depressed and uninspired.

Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread.

**#4: The knife's edge**

It was said that they were balanced on a knife's edge, ruthless killers of unimaginable skill and power. Weapons of death and destruction that were hardly human, emotionless and precise. Tools of the higher ups sent into impossible odds and shattering anything that stood in their way, they were the fist of the Empire. Posters and videos depicting them in action, even the women looking cold a merciless and they slaughtered their adversaries with ease. It was never thought that they could display the sort of gentle, soft tenderness that the army personal at the remote station _Juliet-Lewis _were now seeing. Especially the one rumored to be he most dangerous person alive. He looked the part too, wrapped in a black cloak, shining metal gauntlets and boots; eye's gleaming with a strange intelligence that was mildly frightening. The way he was holding the woman next to him radiated a sense of calm despair, because it was said that the Arbiters were only sent in at dire situations, and that they feared nothing. The crew sent under ground emerged with several heavily laden carts loaded with boxes of ammunition, weapons, and grenades. The Solider returned from the bunker with only a couple of people, and they all garbed guns and posted on the wall. The pods were landing in quick succession now, and judging by the rate of decent, the large one would land last. It did, landing a good 20 seconds after the last of the small ones, causing a tremor that broke Barnette and Jack apart, and caused the rest of the pods to open. A scintillating fill glowed to life within the depths of each pod, and the Regulars began to pour through the teleporters. The flood of razor sharp claws, teeth, and horns swirled around the plain, almost completely covering the trampled grass. The yellow eyes glared fiercely from the flat faces of the regulars. They gathered to charge en masse at the fort, and waited for sufficent numbers to arive.

Jack sighed, thinking that this was going to be bad, and looked over to Barnette.

"Care to do the honors?" He asked, sarcastically bowing a little.

"Why, just something else you can't do for yourself?" She said, eye's narrowing, a small grin playing across her face. A near by solider chose that moment to state his opinion. "Sir! You're going to let a woman take the first shot?" His comment struck a familiar cord, not everyone was comfortable with being re-connected with each other.

"Why, yes I am, she's a better shot than I am, and it's a good omen if the first shot fired deals a fatal injury. Now, you will keep that kind of attitude to yourself, or I will personally throw you down to those things, got it?" He said with a bit of growl in his voice. The solider turned slightly pale and quickly returned to his post. The radio crackled and Vinn's voice broke through.

"Hey, jack, I think you should come see this, I got the door open, and theirs a man would like to meet you. I sent the kids back up with the girls and Hibiki."

"Ok, be right down." He called back, and turned back to Barnette. "Fire when you're ready, and call me if you need me." He started walking down to the garage, and Barnette just decided she had to say something.

"You couldn't even figure out how to change Sophie's diaper, so I think I'll be fine." She said, and was already staring through her scope, trying to decide who's life to end first.

"MOM!" A green haired girl yelled, covering her face in shame.

"Yeah," Jack called back "I didn't even show up till she was five, and by then you were so good at it, I thought I'd just let you handle it." The little girl's friends all started to laugh as the girls face turned a shade of violent red.

Jack hit the bottom of the concrete ramp at a jog, and slowed, boot's scraping shining streaks in the cement. He walked to the now open door, where Vinn and John where lightly chatting with a man in a long-sleeved white lab coat. He had a pair of thick black gloves and a gray sweater under the coat. The man immediately reached out his hand to shake Jack's. The man's grip was surpassingly strong, Jack felt the pressure through his powerful metal gauntlets.

"Hello, I presume you are the famed Jack Spencer?" He asked, and Jack nodded. "My name is Doctor Artemis Throne, and I am the head of experimental robotic augmentation here at the station." He said beaming gesturing the three men into the door, a sanitizing white mist furling out of it. A roar echoed around the room, the collective howl of thousands of enraged monsters, the first shot had obviously been a fatality. Throne continued talking as he led them into the lab. "18 or 19 years ago, during your brief stint as emperor, this planet was ruled by an avid anti woman dictator, who was well away of your reputation as a sympathizer, and maybe even advocate of the women. He had heard rumors of your strange power, and knew your intentions to join this galaxy under one ruler. He needed a way to combat you, but knew he was no match, so he started this program. The planet switched rulers, but we continued our work, even once the Scourge appered." The lab was stacked with plastic cube containers full of either new or destroyed machine parts. Diagrams of arms and legs lined the walls, some showing muscles and ligaments with overlays of hydraulics and metal plates reconstructing it. "Allow me to show you our first operational modle of the series 2 Mechanical Augmentation Gear, Code name M.E.G." he said, and gripping his sleeves, he ripped the sleeves off, revealing the reason his grip was so strong.

Wow, who could have seen robot arms comeing?


	6. It Shall Be

Vandread, The Next Enemy 

Sorry my writing has been kinda staggered and bad lately, just really depressed and uninspired.

Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread.

**#6: It shall be**

The white metal plates reflected the harsh florescent lights of the laboratory. The hydraulic lifts in the depths of the arms show equally bright as they moved with slight hisses. Dr. Throne slid of the thick black gloves, revealing razor sharp claws and long fingers. He flexed the arms, and pumped his hands, admiring the servos moving his metal appendages.

"These arms are specially crafted to withstand all of your special powers. They can handle extreme physical duress, and can lift several times what any normal human could, and it allows to manipulate objects as if I had normal hands." He said, pulling blueprints off the wall. The arms split along the center, and separated into a total of four arms as he indicated specifics. "The nerve impulses sent by the brain are all electrical based, so in theory, the bio-electrical impulses can be used to control machines. By building transceivers that can receive and transfer the impulses, and attaching them to the nerves in a certain parts of the body, you can get the parts to move from the impulses." He indicated several diagrams showing a metal cuff attached to the shoulder bones and ribs with special screws and bolts.

"So I'm guessing that you perfected this theory into a working model?" Jack questioned his usual air of sarcasm present.

"O yes, and then some, we never imagined we progress this far so soon!" He flicked each of his wrists; a thick needle jutted out from under the wrist plating. "These needles can drain a vanquished enemy, or living if necessary, to replenish the systems that power the augmentations. Using them at peak capacity requires a rather large expenditure of bio-chemical energy, which can leave a person rather drained, and several have died from over use. We may have perfected the mechanics and nerve conductors, but finding a sufficient power source that is compatible with the human bio-structure." He added regrettably. Before anyone could respond, a violent explosion shook the ground beneath their feet. The cement roof cracked, dust raining down into the room, and through the hardened chamber, the calls and the radio finally broke through.

"…They've gotten through the mine field, open up on 'em… Turret three destroyed, heavy damage to number two… get some grenades into the clusters, Snipers, take out some of those pods!" The garbled cries came over the radio.

"Well, sounds like we're needed." Jack said, raising his rifle and pumping a round into the chamber. "Can you fire a gun with those things?"

"Of coarse." Throne replied, opening a drawer and drawing out a pair of pistols and clips, loading the guns with the lower set of hands, the stowing the pistols and rapidly grabbing and stashing them in random pockets with surprising speed.

"I think you might need a little more fire power than that, go grab whatever you'd like out the back of our jeep, and meet us topside.

"Ok." He said, and hurried out of the room, clicking one pair of arms shut and sealing them together with the other set, and then using the single arm to join the other two. Jack, John, and Vinn followed after checking their weapons and started climbing the ramp to the surface.

End, Metal arms Modled after General Grievous from Star Wars Episode three.


	7. Time again

Vandread, The Next Enemy 

Sorry my writing has been kinda staggered and bad lately, just really depressed and uninspired.

Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread.

**#7: Time to Shine**

Jack ejected the clip from his personal assault weapon, a thick black relic that he built himself more years back than he cared to remember, as he walked to the top of the base walls.

"Here, try some of these." He said, tossing the clip to a solider.

"Sir!" He replied, switching his ammo, and resuming fire, to a satisfying effect. The scourge, as predicted, had charged as one toward the base after the first shot clipped down one of their platoon leaders, a stocky grayish bastard with a white stripe running down it's back. Its head had exploded with the force of the bullet impact. The Scourge's claws squealed against the titanium walls as their horn energy blast tried to penetrate the resilient metal. Jack pulled out an extended barrel from the depths of his cloak, and screwed it into the proper slot, then fished out a scope, and attached it to the optic's rail. Finally he pulled out a new clip and examined the contents. Six bronze rounds about 12 inches long sat inside, each loaded with a special explosive set to a timer the started after impact. The rounds were tipped with extremely powerful penetration tips that could sheer through thin sheets of most metals without losing much speed. The rounds came in several sizes, ranging from pistol and assault rounds, to the sniper round he was using. The weapons masters gleefully referred them to as "Death buds", due to the blossom of fire and shrapnel that expanded upon detonation. He slapped the clip into the receiver with satisfaction, and aimed at one of the distant transpods. Targeting the energy core casing, just barely visible on the top of the pod, he readied to squeeze the trigger. Half a second before he fired, the pod disappeared in a cloud of flame and body parts, disappearing from the battlefield. He looked over at Barnette, who was already picking off any of the monstrosities who were still standing near the charred exo-skeleton of the pod.

"Hey, what the hell was that, you stole my kill!" He yelled at her.

"You were to slow." She replied calmly, not pausing from her precision killing.

"What rounds are you using?" He called, hoping to gain back some face.

"9 inch iron hollow points." She replied in the same fashion. Jack jaw dropped.

"How many times did you hit before one got through?"

"One."

"With the nine inch irons? Those things could go through more than an inch of aluminum siding from this distance, how'd you manage that?"

"Some of us can actually hit what we're aiming at." She said, giving him a brief, blank stare that clearly conveyed the condescension she had in her voice. Jack turned slightly red, and began trying to shoot the pods, Barnette always detonating them a couple of seconds before he could fire. Finally, after he got tired of Barnette being one step ahead of him, he shifted his focus to taking down some of tremendous amount of Regs firing their odd bio-energy beams from their curved electric blue horns.

"Dmanit, would you please cut that out!" Jack yelled, as she still picked off the one's he was aiming at.

"Aww, are you getting a little upset because you can't kill anything?" She said in a voice that made his blood boil.

"Yes, it frustrates the living hell out of me when I'm not allowed to kill something that I really want to kill." He stammered back, his anger dying away, as he gazed at her. The combination with the Paexi had affected them all differently, each color giving them a certain trait that they exiled in. Barnette had been assigned the Green, which amped up her sight, steadiness, and reflexes, making her sniper skills virtually unmatched, along with the basic strength, agility, and other skills that all the Peaxi combos gained. John's combination with the red gave him an added power boost to the level that nothing could best him in hand to hand and melee combat, and strength enough that very little could stand in his way. Vinn's conjunction with the yellow gave him unparalleled speed and logic, so basically, he could do all the mundane tasks he had dictated by his obsessive-compulsive personality quicker and more efficiently, and was an excellent puzzle solver. The orange one, coupled with Parfait, had given her what seemed to many to be impossible, but she had gotten even more intelligent. She had unknowingly become and even more skilled technician, and was being hailed as one of the most brilliant tacticians ever to have lived. She had remained aboard the war's most decorated ship, mainly because of her affiliation with the ships Doctor, and had helped to spearhead the most successful campaigns of the war, although he ego never ballooned like the people in such positions usually do. The special four attached to the blue were all very well rounded in most categories, but had all become extremely resilient to physical harm, and had developed an unusual regenerative ability. Jack had his own boost from the affinity with the purple, giving him the strongest ability with use the energy produced from the connection. Whether it be moving something without having to make contact with it, or using it to detonate a distant object in a shimmering display of colored fire. He also had a mild boost of energy from his combining with the other five Paexi. And a mild boost of energy from a Paexis is still a tremendous amount. His anger had remained the same over the years, a sudden and brief peak, quickly dissipating and fueling a retort form his sharp wit.

"Well, it looks like you'll just have to work harder then." She replied.

"Man, the Tarrak propaganda people were right about one thing, "Women are Monsters!"" He said, shaking his head, looking up in time to see a rock flying on a direct intercept course for his face. All he had time to do was lessen the force of the impact to keep it from shattering his nose, but the force still rocked him back on his heels.

"Ha!" Barnette snorted, "big mister powerful man can't even dodge a little old rock." She turned her attention back to the battle, and detonated another pod with another well-aimed shot. Jack also turned back to the field, when a loud hissing noise filled the air, louder and more ominous than the hundreds of snarling monsters below. Along the face of the large pod facing them, a seam traveled from the top to the bottom, splitting the face and issuing a plume of billowing white smoke. The two sides of the face blew away from the main pod; spiraling away and slicing deep gouges in the trampled ground.

Out of the new opening, a giant beast stepped out, easily 30 feet tall, and as wide as Hellfire drop ship built roughly like a centaur. The ground trembled with each step; it's four short, thick legs propelling it along. Its torso resembled the shell of a turtle, a sickly, pale decaying green color, large cracked spines protruding in even intervals. Two gigantic arms stuck out from holes in the shell along the sides, thick orange-brown fur covering the massive arms. The fists were bare, but webbed with scars. In one hand, it held a huge hammer, pointed to a sharp point in the back, short handed, but big enough to crush three jeeps sitting side by side. The arms were short yet massive, stubby fingers flexing menacingly. The eyes didn't display the blind hatred present in the eyes of the Regulars. Instead, a sort of grim intelligence shown brightly from the obsidian orbs. Within the hazy white fog billowing from the large pod, several patches of black fur seemed to be moving. As the new monstrosity cleared the fog, it's serrated tusk glinting in the sunlight, the dark patches of fur leapt of the beast and bounded through the grass. The were skeletally thin, and ran on all fours, even though they looked like bipeds. A quick flurry of Precision shots took all but one down with headshots. The final one was hit in the spine, right below where the rib started. The rear legs fell away, and the torso tumbled forward, the furry head popping off and continuing forward on stubby little legs, until it was halted by a final shot. Barnette was just starting to wonder what it was she had just cut down, when Jacks voice broke in.

"Damn it! Do you always have to kill them all before I can even get a shot off?" Barnette blinked at him, he didn't seem to care that they had just been introduced to two new threats at the same time.

"Yes, that quick reaction time is probably the reason I don't get injured on every mission I go on." She said bluntly.

W… Well," He stuttered, "Can you, um, pee where you want to while standing up?" He yammered, pulling up something quickly.

"No." She replied flatly, ignoring the attempt to provoke her.

"Well, neither can I, but… Argg, I hate it when you do that." He said, slumping defeatedly. Then, he regained his composure. "Well, I've had about enough of this, what do you say we end this little engagement?" He said, his demeanor shifting to a happier one. The people still mounted on the wall gave him a strange look, with the exemption John, Vinn, And Barnette. "Now," He was talking like he was giving a lesson in one of his classes, as Sophie, Jamie, Tiffany, and Edward were watching, "As you have all seen, Ms. Orangello has managed to outdo me at everything today, despite my best efforts. But now, I will show you all something that even she does not even know how to do." He picked up a discarded rifle from one of the fallen soldiers. "You see here a standard issue rifle issued by the Empire Armed Forces. Nothing special, but observe." He scratched a small design into the butt of the weapon, "When I inscribe a small circle with three intersecting lines in the center, and then pump a small amount of the energy gifted from the Paexis into the design, "He touched it with his finger tip, and the emblem blazed purple for a second, until it receded into a dull glow, "I create a bond between my energy and the device, as if I were making it an extention of myself." He walked to the edge of the wall and aimed at the top of the large pod. "Watch as I shave the muzzle down to a needle fine opening." He closed a gloved hand around the guns tip and spun it with his other hand, closing the muzzle of to a needle thin opening. "Now, observe the discharge when the weapon fires," he said throwing the weapon to Barnette, who shouldered her own weapon and plucked the new one out of the air in a single movement. "Now, please shoot the area where the largest pod's power supply should be located. You will be firing a super concentrated round of my unique brand of purple energy, which will be more that sufficient to eliminate the object." She grunted and took aim, thinking he was up to something as she adjusted her self to firing a medium range rifle at a target that distance. She pulled the trigger, a very minute bucking of the gun at release of the energy. The bolt was high, hitting a distant mountain several feet below the peak with a plume of purple fire and dust, pulverizing the rock and shattering the peak. Jack chuckled slightly at the rare failure, as she threw the gun at him, which he caught with one hand before it smacked him in the face. "As you can see, the beam projectile is not affected by the pull of gravity, and there is no need to compensate while aiming." No Barnette was irritated, he playing it of like she was an ignorant student, but she would beat him at his own game.

"Very impressive, but I can do that to." She said, and aimed her own gun at the pod, and summoning her own energy into hr gun through the grip, fired a lance of green energy at the pod, but dissipated long before reaching the target.

"As you undoubtedly know, Our ability to direct and hold together our energy fades with distance, eventual dissipating into nothing, like you just saw Ms. Orangello Demonstrate flawlessly. Now, my enegy output and control is slightly more powerful, even my energy would dissipate at this distance, so observe what practical applications this serves in the field." He pointed the modified rifle at the pod and fired, the massive machination detonating into a ball of fire. "As you see, the compression of the energy makes it extremely volatile upon contact with solid or semi-solid materials. Watch what happens when it is used on living tissue." He shifted, and fired on each of the joint's of the massive beast on the field, the purple energy carving gaping gouges in the monsters flesh with roars of pain as it fell to the ground with it's massive limbs missing or disabled. He finished it with a head shout, leaving a large torso gushing large amounts of blood oozing into the scarred soil. Jack flipped up the gun and let it fall into the snarling mass of Regulars trying to claw their way up the thick titanium walls. "Now," He said, looking down, "Let's take care of these little Regulars." He said. Now sooner had he finished his sentence, than a large commander Regular flew up at him, jaws gaping and claws reaching. Jack flew backward with a uplifting back flip, his hands denting the platform as he pushed himself with a boost, slamming the pointed toe of his boot into the creatures lower jaw, shattering it's protected shield and flinging the stunned thing to the ground below. Jack followed, landing on all fours onto of it, and with a flurry of powerful lightning fast strikes, reduced the creatures head, neck and upper chest into a bloody pulp. Standing up, he put his index finger to the cement, and scratched a large circle in it, drawing three crossed lines in the center, touching the edges of the circle. "As you can no doubt see, the crossed bars of the circle, are in the same positions as those in the Arbiter insignia. These points where the bars touch symbolize the six paexi energy combining into a single form." He placed his hands on the ground, and a shimmering purple light traced the contour of the shape he'd drawn. "Now I have a link to the ground, watch as I flood the ground with energy." His cloak began to flutter and flap around him as the ground glowed purple, and several black, furry shapes vaulted over the walls, and converged upon Jack when they landed. Their was a blinding flash of purpleish-black light, that faded into a crater in the middle of the base.


	8. Boom

Vandread, The Next Enemy 

Sorry my writing has been kinda Non-Existent and bad lately, just really depressed and uninspired.

Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread.

**#8: 1 plus 2 equals BOOM!**

Barnette saw the slim black shapes bound up the wall of Scourge corpses at the base of the actual wall, and flash over her head. A second later she felt as well as heard the explosion of purple energy as it whipped through her shoulder length emerald locks. She had decided to let her hair grow out, but not too much. She heard the gasp of a fellow solider and knew what had happened, but there was no time to do anything about it, she had a battle to win.

"Grenades! Over the wall! Knock away the bodies!" She yelled, priming the cylindrical explosive, and dropping it into the teeming mass of fangs and claws.

"You Heard the Lady!" One of the officers shouted, doing the same, and ducking behind the lip of the wall as several energy bolts sizzled into the wall. The rest of the soldiers did the same, and a few seconds later, it started raining dirt and bloody chunks of meat, as the gunfire resumed and the bodies continued to pile up again.

Jack slowly regained consciousness within a large underground passage completely devoid of light. The skin all over his body felt as if it was terribly sunburned, which was doubtlessly an effect from the blast he was the epicenter of. He rose unsteadily to his feet, and ran smack into a dirt wall. Judging by the fact that the direction he was trying to go in was a wall, he figured that behind him was most likely a wall too, turned to his left, and smacked into another wall. After finding that there was only one possible way to go, he shambled slowly down the tunnel.

Barnette took a second to see what had become of Jack, which was a ratter large crater that had broken into the underground facilities. She figured that he'd most likely emerge and continue his thing in a minute, and then surveyed the battlefield. Right off the bat, she saw that there was no hope, and they couldn't hold. The had to pull out, or they would be destroyed by the tsunami of Scourge that continued to pour from the drop pods. She yelled to the man with the communications gear on

"Luke, get on the horn and get us out of here ASAP." And as he started his task, she started taking a few more of the hairy bustards and putting the in the express lane to hell.

Up in space, there were hundreds of the Scourge Capital Ships, Their brownish-green angular hulls glinting in the sun's light as they continued to pump more pods onto the planet's surface. A Lance of emerald energy speared one of the ships stern to stern, and it exploded in a massive fireball, as dozens of other colored beams pepered ships in the surrounding area.

"Three ships destroyed, Captain." A bridge officer called to the person in the pilots chair.

"Good, All Ships take your Targets and go, Lets give these bastards something to remember us with!"

The Armada of human ships engines flared as they rocketed toward the opposing force. There were easily three times the number of Scourge ships in the system, but they set out to level the fields as the sent a wave bullets, lasers, missiles, and heavy rounds ant the ships just starting to turn and face them.

A Single Dropship landed in the center of Research Base _Juliet-Lewis_ and began to load troops and personnel. Barnette stood on the loading ramp as the people loaded up. The had dropped another round of grenades, plus a few gallons of kerosene they had laying around, creating a firewall to give them a few more minuets to make it into the air. Dr. Throne and John returned from the crater and piled on, forcing Barnette in and sealing the door.

"Lets go." He said, and the pilot gladly complied.

"What about Jack." Barnette protested.

"Wasn't down there, nothing was." John replied bluntly.

THE END.


	9. Chapter 9

**Vandread: The Next Enemy**

I am the Teriyaki man!

I don't own the show, or any music!

9: all roads end…

Emerald light shimmered along the surface of Jack's hands, sparking, but with little else happening. He growled with dissatisfaction, none of his paexi alignment energy working, short of making bright spots dance across his vision in the darkness. He had no idea as to the reason for his malady, as he had never had them fail on him before. Sighing, he felt for the walls, it being pitch black with the exception of the spots, and ambled along. After what felt like hours, the black started to shift to a deep gray. The further he went, the lighter the grey. After another minute, it was light enough to actually see the texture of the walls around him. All of a sudden, he was surrounded by the blinding halogen glow of underground work lights. As his eye's adjusted, he had to blink rapidly, because he could not believe what he was seeing. The room opened up just enough to fit a boxy, 2-story tall hospital in it. And walking up to meet him was a slim blond dressed in the traditional imaged nurse costume.

"Mr. Spencer, so nice of you to finally meet you, the Director is waiting for you." Jack cocked an eyebrow at the girls."

"No offense, hun, but 2 things aren't right here, one, ain't no way I wind up in heaven, and if somehow I managed to wriggle in, you'd be a red head, not a blonde." The girl looked apologetic.

"I am sorry if you are not satisfied with my appearance, but I can assure you this is not heaven, or hell. Now, if you will please come with me." She turned, made sure he was going to follow, and set off at a brisk pace toward the door. "If you don't mind me asking, I would have thought your preference would be toward green hair, like your partner has."

"Don't get me wrong, I love it on her, but my personal preference has always been for the flame tops." They had entered the hospital, and it was as archaically accurate on the inside as on the out, down to the gurneys, linoleum floor tile, and even the surly looking head nurse sitting at the nursing station. She led him up a flight of stairs, and into room number 384. She gestured to a series of metal basins and a number of free standing coat racks.

"If you please, place your cloak and equipment in receptacles, and lie on the table for some tests." He cocked an eyebrow quizzically at her, the message clear. "I assure you, sir, that there shall be no attempt to harm you, just to sterilize and if necessary, repair any damage you sustained." He failed to look convinced, and she sighed slightly. "If we wanted you dead, we would have had the explosion kill you." He appeared to be mollified, and stepped up to a rack. He reached in his cloak and un-shouldered something, then pulled out a long, sleek wood frame bolt action rifle, and hung it up. Next up came his boxy assault weapon, still modified into a semi-automatic sniper rifle. He then slid his cloak of, and the nurse thought it must have been a trick of the light, because it seemed the cloak got shabby, faded, and a tad tattered as soon as his touch left it. He was in a white t-shirt, and a baggy pair of black pants. He removed his gauntlets, and then boots, and placed them in one of the bins. The nurse noticed a collection of long metal poles connected to metal bracelets that wrapped around his wrists, and area just below his elbows. He unsnapped and removed a long, wicked looking knife that hung hilt down in a harness over his left Pectoral. It had several curved off shoots of the main blade, which was waved formed. He then reached behind him and removed a black metal sword from a hilt in the small of his back, the hilt sticking out slightly from his right side. A large blocky pistol with a long barrel was removed from a holster down his right leg, and an ancient, but well maintained M-79 grenade launcher from his left. Two silver pistols came from hip draw holsters, and two plain black wrapped sword hilts from over his shoulders. Finally, he emptied his two front pockets of enough clips, cartridges, and loose rounds to stock all of the weapons for a long time. From the back two, a assortment of styles of throwing and fold out knifes, and a wallet.

The nurse gave him a strange look as he turned away and faced her again, looking small, and lacking some of the air of confidence that he displayed while fully equipped, and, really tired. Not just physically weary, but soul weary. "That is a lot of munitions."

"Deep pockets, s'why I like these pants." He shrugged.

"…okay. Would you please remove your, um, bracers and lie on the table." He looked confused, blinked a few time, then a look of comprehension fluttered across his face. He held up his arms in a blocking fashion, fists toward the ceiling.

"I can't. It's a long story, but they are not only graphed to my skin, but wired into my nervous system as well." She cocked an eyebrow, looked away a second, and then replied.

"Alright, please lie on the table. The lights will dim, and the ceiling mounted machinery will activated, and access, cleanse, and repair anything that needs be repaired. Please do not move once the test starts. I can offer a light sedative if it will help."

"No thanks," he mounted the table, and lay on his back. The ceiling split and a multi armed machine dropped down. "I think I can manage a physical." She nodded, and left the room, and as the door closed, the lights popped off. Jack blinked, and was starring up into the nurses blue eyes. "Wow, your fast for such a short gal." She looked perplexed, and then spoke.

"You've been asleep for more than an hour, Mr. Spencer. You may re don your gear now; the Director will see you now." She backed away, and he sat up, and hopped of the table. He walked over to the bins, and noticed his equipment was shiny and clean. He reached over and grabbed his cloak, which had been cleaned, and had faded to a tattered grey. He slipped it on, and crisp black flooded back into it, and it looked like new again. He slid his hands into his gauntlets, which seemed to snuggle back on like they missed him, and slid his feet back into his boots. He then dipped his hands into the remaining basins and the objects within sucked up his sleeves. He re-slung his assault and bolt action rifle, and faced the nurse again.

"Ready when you are, ma'am."

******

"So, is this director like the Headmaster in "They Thirst", or more like M in the whole James Bond series?" Jack asked as they strode down an aseptic hall lit by fluorescent lights. The nurse looked confused, and cocked an eyebrow at Jack. "Never mind, hunny, before your time, So, I am assuming that you are in contact with your boss, but I haven't been able to puzzle out how yet, how you do it?"

"Oh," she was again startled by the abrupt change in subject. "Just your standard earwig on an in closed radio circuit." Jack nodded, then in one fluid movement drew a large folding knife, swirled around her, and grabbed her like a meat shield. With his free hand he popped of her earwig, and stuffed it into one of his specially lined pockets that killed signals He backed down an offshoot of the main hall, and opened a door, and backed inside. "What the hell…" He clapped a hand over her mouth, and a green piece of tape was left in it's place. A few seconds later, a strip was binding her wrist and ankles. He moved the mattress from the bed and set it up in the bathroom. He placed the nurse gently upright

"sorry bout this, hun, but I already let my guard down once today, so, needless to say, I won't just go waltzing into this Directors… office. Now that I've had a bit of sleep, I realized that I am smack dab in the middle of hostile territory. So, I've got a few questions, and any answers will be most appreciated."

He came out of the bathroom about 8 minutes later. He closed the door, lifted his leg, and stomped on the handle, smashing it off. He looked around the room, then walked up to the desired wall. He flipped the knife and stabbed it into the wall. He cut out a large square, and pried the drywall out. Right where he expected, was a silvery metal pipe. He flexed the fingers of his left gauntlet outward, the grabbed the pipe. The Electro magnetic pulse drive in the palm pulsed and overloaded the circuit breaker for the whole floor. The light bulb in the room exploded in a cloud of powdered glass, and plunged him into darkness. The door opened, and he went stealthy about his reconnaissance.

End chapter Nine.


	10. The long way around

Vandread, The Next Enemy

Well, according to my profile, it's been around three years since I've bothered with this story, so let's see if I can entertain my fans/toleraters a little!

I do not own the Vandread stuff, but the rest, you bet I do!

**#10: The long way around**

The dropship docked the lone frigate that could be spared for extraction, which accelerated away from the planet as soon as ship entered the ship's bay. The door slid closed with a subsonic thump, and the atmosphere returned and the students flooded into the bay.

"All hands brace for immediate high gravity maneuvers!" The loud speakers blared, and the ship shook violently. "Impact on the port side, fire on deck 12, sections A through E, H and J. Best speed to the rendezvous point, seal the breach and remove the air!" The deck shook more violently, and then the entire ship was hit with a full three gravities. None of the students were injured, as pursuant to their training, they had laid on the deck to avoid injury when the gravity hit. For six minutes the high gravity persisted to press the students to the deck plates, until suddenly, the ship shuddered one last time, and with a nausea inducing moment of free fall, the normal gravity resumed. The intercom crackled with static, then a high pitched whine for a second, popped and the blared.

"…ort to the bridge! Repeat, will the Arbiters, previously stationed at thee military training facility in orbit of planet xj-4395, "Nexus", report immediately to the bridge!" The message repeated over and over, as Vinn, John, Sophia, Tiffany, Jamie, and Edward, lead by Barnette, headed to the bridge.

"Would someone like to tell me what the hell a bunch of goddamn kids are doing one my bridge!" a man wearing the shoulder pips that read captain, and chest ribbons that read "I f'd up pretty badly to be in charge of a frigate making pickup on a lost planet!" said. Barnette fixed the man with a cold stare.

"You asked for the Arbiters to come to the bridge, and thanks to the crash course at the academy, these four have garnered a field promotion, and are now Arbiters themselves." The tone of her voice left no room for questions, and the Captain swore emphatically, and with considerable skill.

"Fine then, here's the brief." He walked up to a console near the main screen, and started his presentation. "These orders are directly from the Empress herself. The only reason we were able to make pickup because while the Scourge are teleporting troops, they only have enough power to run point defenses. Now that the mainstay of their forces have been deployed, and most of the surface of the planet controlled, they are only deploying from a single ship at a time. In just the time since you left the surface, two more battle groups of Scourge ships have entered the orbit of "Nexus."" A planet filled the screen, with read triangles clustered in several spots across it. "We have just made rendezvous with the battle group behind the moon, which, when the command comes, we will follow them in, while they engage this group," he indicated a group, "as a diversion, and drop you in Orbital Insertion pods, to join the other Arbiters to recapture a facility in the northern region, and secure a special package, classified to X-ray level by the spooks from OEI (Office of Empire Intelligence)."

"Okay, when do we deploy."

"As soon as your group is ready, Ma'am." Barnette gathered Vinn and John by eye, who nodded their assent. To her mild surprise, the kids caught her subtle gesture, and nodded their assent as well. She cracked a wide smile.

"Well, captain, no time like the present, by your leave, Sir."

The running lights dimmed as the newest wave of troop's teleported to the surface. Three incandescent lines intersected the hull, ant the entire ship blossomed into a new sun, pieces of debris colliding with other nearby ships. The entire fleet of 23 remaining ships turned as one to face the smaller human battle group of 14 ships, their fore energy projectors swiveling and glowing as they heated. As the braked, the remaining eleven rounds from the ships Magnetic Accelerator Cannons slammed into the fleet. Two ships forward projector spheres shattered from the impact of the heavy metal slugs, as a swarm of ship to ship missiles dug chunks of metal from the smooth hulls. Several missiles flew straight into the still glowing sockets of the shattered projectors. This ignited the power lines, chaining explosions and gutting the ships fore to aft, and blossomed into massive flame clouds. This engulfed the ship in between, adding to the inferno, and heavily damaging two other close floating ships. In rage the entire fleet gave chase to the now fleeing human group. The lone frigate slid quietly into the debris field, completely stealthed except for the area where the point defenses carved sheets of armor out of the port side. Seven small heat sources detached from the ship, and gained good speed toward the planet. Now, they knew that the Scourge were tracking all objects descending, or in this case, falling from space. Now the way the pods were dropped, they were in the middle of a large cloud of broken ships, better disguised as falling chunks then the actual falling stuff. To draw away as much resistance as possible, the ship dropped a second set of pods, which made themselves very visible. They were known as "thresher" pods. Each pod was filled with a high density foam explosive loaded with razor sharp triangles of metal. This essentially created the biggest shrapnel grenade in history. The explosives would shatter several yards around each pod, and sending the metal shards scything out in all directions and harvesting the lives away from the chaff.

The Seven pods containing the soldiers smacked into the claw chewed plain outside _Juliet Lewis_, about six feet from the outer walls.

The covers hissed, seams appeared, and the faces spiraled away as the small charges split it open. John, who was stuffed tightest, being a mountain of a man, squeezed out, and stretched while looking around.

"Damn, Captain Bream certainly got us close enough! The Scourge must know that there's something here, because the entire force that was assaulting this outpost has gone." He walked over the uneven ground to the kid's pods, grabbing his equipment because it couldn't fit in with him. Vinn fell out of his, picked himself off, and dusted himself off while looking slightly scornful. He turned and grab his weapon, which was heat sealed inside an air tight plastic wrap. He pulled out his oiled knife from his hip sheath, and sliced the package open.

"Yeah, if captain Mira was still with us she would have set us down on the wall all facing the same direction."

"She was good, but not that good, no one is that good, and she probably would have gotten us inside the structure. But for a male pilot, he could be a lot worse. 'member Fitzsimons?" Barnette had stepped lightly out of her pod, and unstrapped a large stainless steel case. She popped out the recessed legs, and extended them to a comfortable height. She opened the case, pulled out her specially crafted Scavenger Rifle. It was custom crafted for her, (was bought with a little card she got from Jack the previous year.) The gun was essentially made so that it was perfect for her, and would be uncomfortable for anyone else. It was, like all rifles Barnette preferred, a bolt action, with the chamber lock on the right. But, unlike most scoped rifles, the mount for the scope was on the flat left side of the weapon, so that the normal sights weren't obstructed and it could be used easily for both long and close range.

"Barnette, are you show some of that man hating that we've heard stories about?" John asked as he fed shells into his shotgun. Vinn looked up from unwrapping his ammunition and chimed in.

"Yes, I believe I heard something a riot back when it was just Hibiki, Duello, and Bart." Barnette turned and fixed them both with a single fingered salute.

"Maybe I'm still not so keen, but Bream is an ok pilot for a guy." She finished zeroing her scope and slung it over her shoulder. She closed up the box, folded the legs, and strapped it to her back. Vinn cleaned his knife and re-sheathed it, and shouldered his duffle.

"Yeah, it has been proven that women make better ship pilots than males anyway. Vinn stated blandly. John finished loading his gear, and then checked the kids, they having remained quiet through the entire standard conversation. Barnette gathered the two adults by eye, and gave a small nod to Vinn, who when and checked the kids gear. John raised a brow, and was rewarded with another small nod.

"Alright, Ladies, here's the plan, we're going into the base, looking for any clues to where Jack went. Ed, your'e on point, Soph, your on drag, Barnette, your second, followed by Jamie, then me, Tiff, and Vinn. Move out. The gate to the compound had been ripped off its massive hinges, and dragged clear. Ed trudged through sweeping the ground area briefly with his M4, Barnette sweeping the second floor. As Sophie entered she slapped a black disk on each side of the gate. A spark jumped the gap, and she picked up rock, and tossed it through. The whole gap lit up as the rock was incinerated by a few hundred thousand volts of electricity. She gave Ed the thumbs up, and they swept the area individually. The four kids checked the perimeter, while the three adults scoped the melted metal around where Jack disappeared. Shortly after they got there, the kids signaled perimeter secured. Gaining nothing from the warped metal, they proceeded to the ramp down and into the dark. As they hit the dark, Edward noticed that the dark took on a bluish glow. He turned back and noticed Barnette was covered in an emerald glow. She seemed to noticed it to, and looked back. Everyone was looking around.

Jamie was glowing both Blue and red at the same time, Vinn yellow, Tiffany yellow and blue, John red, and Sophie green and purple. They were slightly mystified, their Paexis energies displaying themselves of their own volition. There was a loud CRACK and flash of red/blue light, and Tiffany was on her knees. Another CRACK and flash of purple/green and Sophie was down. Three more CRACKS, and the rest were down.

"Wh… What's… happen…ing…" Barnette managed to choke out, before fully collapsing. The aura around each intensified, and with a giant earth shaking boom, each person flashed out of existence one at a time.

END CHAPTER 10


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